Happy New Year (and more)!

Happy New Year everybody! It was a crazy fun 2012. We played (by my last count) 121 games as the H1 Thunder from 12U to 17U. That's a lot. I mean, we may never play that many games again, no matter how much we try. We were in the island's best leagues (CAL, NJB), some new leagues (PAA, AIEA 16U) and we were blessed with the opportunity to play in the Maryknoll JV and Kalani varsity summer leagues.

But that's behind us now. (I have a lot of game videos to edit and I'm catching up slowly.) The new year is going to start earlier than ever for us thanks to the CAL middle school division coming up this weekend. If we play in PAA 13U, that's the first week of February, and PAA 15U starts in mid-February. I still have mixed feelings about that league because the games are so short. They run the clock through all free throws, so games end super fast, like 30 minutes fast. We could wait until CAL league finishes, then starts again with their 15U and 13U in March. Or do all of the above.

HEADS UP! I just got an e-mail from CAL commissioner Greydon Espinda and only now realized that our first game is on Saturday, 3:50 pm. I didn't see that on the schedule (my fault) and thought that our first game was on Sunday. As of right now, the league may postpone the Saturday game to help out another team.

So keep your calendar open for Saturday, 3:50 pm at Kilauea Gym. We're scheduled to play Crush 1. That will be a lot of fun, if we play them. The Sunday, 3:00 game against the Blue Devils is on. Totally on.

Practice is Wednesday, 6:00 pm at Kalakaua Gym. Bring it on! WE LUB THIS GAME!

P.S. - SHIRTS ARE IN. These are the warmup T-shirts we're wearing for the winter season. Designed and produced by James Davis (The Chocolate Factory), a talented artist and a former player of mine from Kaimuki JV back about 12 years ago. He did this on short notice and he did beautiful work. Thank you, James!

The shirts are for our players in the CAL League. The guys who will play in February (PAA 15U/13U) and March (CAL 15U/13U, NJB 15U/13U, AIEA 17U) will get T-shirts when their leagues start. Extra shirts are available to parents for just $10. For everybody else, the shirt will be one of our fundraiser sources, selling for $20 each. 

We ate at Pizza Hut and McDonald's on Sunday, and along with the bottled water and Gatorades, expenses are already kicking off the 2013 year. Let's make some money, fund our entry fees for the leagues, get new uniforms and more T-shirts, and start funding a summer mainland trip.